Gauge for grading machine blades



A June 9, 193$.

C C. MOON GAUGE FOR GRADING MACHINE BLADES Filed June 3, 1955 ,mwm

2 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

,June 9, 1936. c. c. MOON 3 GAUGE FOR GRADING MACHINE BLADES Filed June 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2-

INVENTOR.

mar/as 600a Patented June 9, 1936 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a means to avoid chattering of a blade such as commonly installed in grading machines.

A further object of my invention is to provide a gauge as an accessory to be applied to the blade of a gradingmachine employed to maintain the surface of a highway and free the same from the so called wash board condition that is caused by chatter of the blade, or by vertical movement of the machine body as conveyed along the road, and such movement may be caused by the wheels of the machine surmounting irregularities such as clods, rocks or other obstructions, and in such case the blade with my gauge attached will not adhere to such body movement, but continue in straight horizontal alignment.

These and other objects will hereinafter be more fully explained, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like characters will apply to like parts in the different views.

Referring to the drawings:

5 Fig. 1 is a side view of the front portion of a grading machine with the blade transversely positioned and showing the gauge on the blade.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 with rear portion removed but showing the blade obliquely crossing the longitudinal axis of the machine while the gauge shoes are in parallelism with the axis, or line of travel.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the gauge arrangement and method of attaching the same to the blade of the grader, the lateral brace rod removed.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of Fig. 3 parts removed for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of Fig. 3 the lateral brace rod fragmentarily shown.

Fig. 6 is a modified view of the rear gauge, in which a brace is arranged for the rear runner.

My invention herein disclosed consists of a plurality of gauge runners and means to rockably connect the same to each end of a grader blade I, that is rockably carried through the medium of a reverse circle 2 secured to a draw-bar 3, the latter extending forward to the center of front axle 4, at which point it is rockably connected for vertical movement of the rear portion. A link 5 is carried by the control rod 5', the link having an elongated slot 6, in which a pin 1 is slidably engaged, the said pin being secured near the rear end of the drawbar, to engage in the slot,

by which means the vehicle is free to move vertically independent of the blade, the said blade being controlled to avoid chatter caused by irregular surfaces, such as clods, rocks, small bumps or the like. To obtain a straight alignment of travel, I have secured to the back of the 5 grader blade I a block 8 by studs or bolts 9, the said block has two pairsof ears l0 spaced apart, one pair being near each end of the said block, the corresponding ears of each pair are drilled axial with each other to receive their respective 0 shanks A and B of runners H and E2, the said shanks extending in opposite directions and each being secured against vertical movement by a pair of nuts l0 threadedly engaging on their respective shanks, the said nuts are positioned 5 between the upper and lower pairs of ears with sufficient clearance to turn for rocking mavement of the runners on a horizontal plane. It being understood that when the said runners are positioned at a desired alignment with the cutting 20 edge of the grader blade, the nuts of respective pairs are turned to snug engagement with each other as locking means for their respective shanks.

The shank B of runner I2 is arcuate in form 25 and extends forward to provide ample room for substance gathered from the road bed to pass between the blade and shank.

Runner I2 is hingedly connected to its shank as at C so that the blade may be rocked in a vertical plane and the said runner may be secured in position by a brace rod I3 attached thereto as at D and to the arc portion of the shank as at E after the blade is adjusted. Stay rod I4 is secured near the outer end of the said runner and 35 extends laterally and rearwardly and the other end is attached to the center of the blade I.

The said stay rods are telescopically arranged to accommodate the blade I when it is rocked to a desired angle, at which time the said front 40 runners are placed in parallelism with each other and with the line of travel and secured by clamps l5 respectively.

The rear runners are free to rock automatically to parallelism as they are lead by the blade along the road bed; the said rear runners are hinged to their respective shank as at F, functioning for the same purpose as the hinges of the front runners, there is also an adjustable brace rod It for each of the said rear runners, and to vary the 50 length of the said brace rods, a turn buckle ll is medially positioned to threadedly engage with its respective adjacent ends of the rods.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modification for the rear runners in which view the runner is not adjust- 55 able and is to be applied to a grader blade that is set at a certain angle vertically, as commonly done for road maintenance and will operate without the co-action of a front runner, furthermore a grader thus equipped will be less expensive to manufacture. Such other modifications may be employed a lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a gauge for grading machine blades, in combination with a grader blade, a block secured to the blade near each end thereof, the said block having two pairs of ears integrally joined but spaced apart, the vertically aligned ears of each pair being drilled in axial alignment, a front and rearwardly positioned runner carried by the blocks, each runner having a threaded shank hinged thereto, the shanks vertically carried by the blocks respectively and adapted to turn therein, a pair of nuts to engage on each shank to move the same vertically, the nuts positioned between their respective vertically aligned ears and free to turn with the shank, a pair of adjustable braces secured to the free end of the forwardly positioned runner, one of said braces to secure the runner against vertical rocking movement, the other brace being secured to the center of the blade near the upper edge thereof as means to restrict horizontal rocking movement of the runner, a brace for the rearwardly positioned runner, one end of which pivotally connects to the free end thereof, While the other end is pivotally carried by its respective upper ear of the block.

2. In a gauge for grading machine blades, of

the class described, comprising in combination with a machine having a blade rockably attached and adapted to turn on a horizontal plane, a block secured to the back and near each end of the blade, the block having a pair of apertured ears spaced apart vertically, the apertures of the corresponding ends of the ears being axially aligned, a runner forwardly extending with respect to the blade and having an arcuate shank, the ends of which extend downward to engage in its respective apertured ear and adapted to turn and move longitudinally of the shank, the shank being threaded and having a pair of nuts threadedly engaging thereon and positioned between the upper and lower ear as means for adjusting the runner vertically and locked to a desired position by tight engagement of the nuts with each other, the shank being hingedly connected to the runner and a pair of bracing rods for the free end of the runner, one rod to secure the runner when rocked vertically as desired, the other rod extending from the free end of the runner to near the center of the blade as means to secure the runner in parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the machine, a runner rearwardly extending from the blade, the runner having a shank hingedly connected thereto and the upper end portion of the shank being threaded and secured rockably in the other adjacent pair of ears of the block, said shank being vertically adjusted by similar means to that of the shank of the other runner, the last said runner having a brace rod connecting the free end thereof to the upper ear through which the runner shank extends, there being a similar set of runners for each end of the grader blade.

CHARLES C. MOON. 

